Assisted living worker suspected of plotting deadly attack on senior for months

An assisted living facility employee accused of killing an 87-year-old man in his apartment in Potomac, Maryland, is believed to have plotted the attack for a month, prosecutors said.

The revelation on the killing of Robert Fuller Jr. emerged in court Thursday at a bond hearing for suspect Maurquise James, 22.

James, who was a caregiver at Cogir of Potomac, is also facing charges in connection to the attempted murder of a Maryland State trooper who authorities say he shot at.

James is suspected of plotting Fuller’s “cold-blooded murder,” a prosecutor said at the hearing. They said it was a “miracle” the trooper was not killed after he pulled James over early Tuesday and James opened fire.

James’ attorney asked the court for a psychiatric evaluation. When the judge said he would order it, James said he was looking forward to speaking with the doctors

Fuller was found shot once in the head on Valentine’s Day, in the third-floor apartment he shared with a roommate.

According to a statement of charges filled in the case, Fuller’s roommate told police that James had handed out prescription medication the night before the murder, leading police to interview James in the days after the killing.

Timeline: Before and after the killing of Robert Fuller Jr.

Based on court documents and letters sent to Cogir residents, News4 has built this timeline of events.

Feb. 14, 5:05 a.m.

A subject in a mask is seen entering and leaving the building.

Feb. 14, 7:34 a.m.

Fuller is found dead in his apartment. Later that day, Cogir sends residents an email saying there was “no ongoing threat” in the building.

Feb. 16

Cogir sends a second email saying the incident was “isolated” and that there was “no ongoing threat.”

Feb. 20

Police release a video of the suspect.

Feb. 22

A witness tells police the suspect looks like James.

Feb. 23

James is challenged by staffers.

Feb. 23, 1:15 a.m.

Staff call police after finding a stairwell door that had been propped open and a security sensor that had been disarmed.

Feb. 24, 3 a.m.

James fired shots at a Maryland State trooper.

‘We do not have a good sense of why he shot and killed Mr. Fuller’

During the investigation, police found a seldom-used door had been propped open. The security sensor had been tampered with 36 days before the murder. Video shows James leaving and entering through that door, the same door that leads to a stairwell 10 feet from Fuller’s apartment.

At a news conference, Montgomery County Police Capt. Sean Gagen said investigators do not know James’ motives but hope to find out.

“We do not have a good sense of why he shot and killed Mr. Fuller. Upon speaking with him, he said the relationship was very good and he would never have hurt Mr. Fuller,” Gagen said.

“So, we’re hopeful that as we get further in, doing more of an investigation, we’re going to get a better sense of what was going on behind the scenes, what types of communication Maurquise James had, what he was searching on his electronic devices,” he said.

James’ grandmother appeared in court for the hearing but left without speaking to reporters.

News4 reached out to Cogir for any new statement on Thursday but hasn’t received a response.

Video shows a suspect in the deadly shooting of an 87-year-old man in his assisted living apartment in Potomac, Maryland. News4’s Jessica Albert shares an update from police.